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The LOS (Los Angeles/Van Nuys) body scheduling code is a letter followed by one to three digits, e.g., F103. Based on data analysis (there is no GM documentation that describes this code, but the data is consistent across thousands of datapoints), CRG believes the code was used by LOS Fisher Body (and other plants that built multiple carlines) to aid in scheduling the body build order.

The letter indicates the approximate day of the month for the start of the assembly of the vehicle body. It is only an approximate date because it appears that the day on the tag was actually when the vehicle was being scheduled to be built. The actual start of production could vary by a few days.

The code began with letter "A" on the first day of the month of the Fisher production calendar, incremented at the start of each additional production day to the next alphabetic letter, and was reset to letter "A" at the start of the next production month. (Note that the Fisher production calendar is known to differ from the calendar month, and we also do not know exactly how the Fisher production calendar related to the Chevrolet monthly production reporting calendar.)

The one-to-three digit sequence number that follows the letter was reset to 1 at the start of each day and generally incremented serially with each body built by the factory as the day progressed. Due to scheduling requirements, this progression was not absolute and vehicles chould be built out of tag sequence. Data analysis indicates that the sequence number at the LOS plant was assigned regardless of model or body type. By this we mean that Camaros and full-size passenger cars both incremented the same sequence counter. The unit counter was reset to 1 the next day as the day-of-the-month code letter incremented to the next letter. In the example, F103 would indicate approximately the sixth day of production for a given month and about the 103rd body on that sixth day of production.

!!!! Light come on and found what you referenced.So this means it was the 462nd build on the 21st day of that month!U462Tag also has 01D. So..... Jan 4thwk build as the 21st was a tuesday in the 4thwk.

"The actual start of production could vary by a few days."I looked hard thru the data and you can clearly see that most cars were built in the order scheduled, more or less. But some were off by a few days. It's not more than a few (1-2 normally)days. But it's not accurate enough to say "the 43rd car built on the 23rd day". Yes, built about the 23rd day.

There can be a C123 car that's 11A and a C122 car that's 11B . That data shows the schedule code is not absolutely tied to the production date.

A side note:The #, 462 in this case, does not appear as the sequence # for either Fisher or Chevrolet.

Based on Hot302's question and I know you are discussing '69 vintage but I figured the '67 LOS process was the same.Here is what I have for my 67 LOS built and the UOIT was under the rug taped to the hump.

Cowl trim tag info:04B H457

o 04B = Second week of April (of course)o Based on what I have read above the H 457 would equate to H=8th day of month (April) and 457= body number for that day

UOIT printed date on the top above the 'Style' field is 04-13-67

Based on this excerpt from the CRG article: “The letter indicates the approximate day of the month for the start of the assembly of the vehicle body. It is only an approximate date because it appears that the day on the tag was actually when the vehicle was being scheduled to be built. The actual start of production could vary by a few days”

I see a lag from the 8th day (H) and the UOIT printed date (04-13-67) of 5 days so this gives credence to the CRG article, if I understand it correctly.What I do find interesting is the printed UOIT date comes after the stamped cowl tag date. I would have thought the UOIT would be dated before the tag was stamped to indicate the options to prepare the body for but it is looking like the UOIT was printed after the cowl tag was stamped (and with the options). Also of interest is the UOIT paper edges with tape still attached has over spray on it the same color as the body which means it was in the spray boot at that time.

In 67 the first complete calendar week of April starts on Monday 4/3 which would be the A day of the A week, 8 working days (assuming no saturday and sunday work) places the H day on 4/12. Build weeks do not start on the first calendar day of the month, unless that was a Monday (and even then not always) nor do they end in the middle of the week. I've spent along time trying to match up build week and build day code letters to specific days, and they don't fit exactly, without knowing the holiday schedules, and when they worked extra days.

That explanation of the month start dates sure clears it up! So, the date periods between the cowl tag and UOIT are correct in this case. So it looks like the month/week code (ex:04B) and body code (H 457) for LOS built cars can fall within a week of each other.

They should be exactly the same, week A should contain letters A thru E, and sometimes F, week B should contain F thru J, or G thru L, etc. depending on how many cars were scheduled to be built, and how many days the plant was working. The actual construcion of any individual car could change by a day or two, since the tags were made up anywhere from a few days to a week prior to actual contruction of the car was scheduled. An individual car could be pulled up, or dropped back in the overall schedule based on parts availability, or the need to get a few more cars of a specific color, or just about any other reason the plant needed, but if it moved up or down it didn't go very far. These changes show up in a VIN shift, in orther words the body number and or w/o number gets out of order with the VINs, since they were assigned at the time the car was actually made, not the time they were originally scheduled to be built. Of course this only applies to the 67's and 68's, as 69's went to a different method of assigning body numbers.

An individual car could be pulled up, or dropped back in the overall schedule based on parts availability, or the need to get a few more cars of a specific color, or just about any other reason the plant needed.....

Note, Mark is referring to the car order being changed in the schedule, not the actual car. Once a car was started, it was built.